1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an automatic vending machine which enables merchandise sales processing using a non-contact IC card and a sales method thereof, and more particularly to an automatic vending machine which enables highly reliable merchandise sales processing without complicating operations, and a sales method thereof
2. Description of the Related Art
Automatic vending machines which enable the purchasing of products using a non-contact IC card have been proposed in the prior art.
In Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 6-176251, when a user depresses a set button on an automatic vending machine, products become selectable after the price of a single product or the entire amount is deducted in advance from monetary amount information which is stored on the card of the user. In a case where the entire amount is deducted from the monetary amount information stored on the card, the user selects a product, and following payment for the selected product, the balance which remains following subtraction of the cost of the product that was paid for from the entire amount of the monetary amount information stored on the card, which was deducted from the card in advance, is refunded to the card.
In Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 10-232955, product selection becomes possible when the user depresses a purchase button or when a human-detecting sensor detects the user. After the user has selected a product, the cost is deducted from the card and the product is dispensed.
However, in a system in which an amount of money is deducted from the card prior to purchase, as in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 6-176251, the product cost may not be returned when the user does not purchase the product.
Further, upon selection of a product in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 10-232955, the user may select a product which costs more than the amount of money on the card.
It is therefore an object of this invention to provide an automatic vending machine in which a user can check which products may be purchased prior to the selection of a product and in which payment is deducted from a card after the user has selected a desired purchase, and to provide a sales method thereof
In order to achieve the aforementioned object, an automatic vending machine of the invention described in claim 1 comprises: short range communication means for performing short range communication with a communication medium which is carried by a user; reader/writer means for reading from the communication medium via the short range communication means an authentication code for this communication medium and monetary amount information stored on this communication medium, and for rewriting the monetary amount information stored on the communication medium following a sale of a product; storage means for temporarily storing the authentication code and the monetary amount information read out from the communication medium by the reader/writer means; product dispensation means for dispensing a product; and control means in which a judgment is made as to whether or not the sale of a product is possible on the basis of the authentication code and monetary amount information read out from the communication medium by the short range communication means, whereupon, if the sale is possible, this authentication code and monetary amount information are stored in the storage means and the selection of a product is awaited, and in which the authentication code and monetary amount information of the communication medium are read for a second time by the short range communication means following the selection of a product, whereby, if the authentication code and monetary amount information read out for the second time and the authentication code and monetary amount information stored in the storage means match, the monetary amount information stored in the communication medium is updated to monetary amount information obtained by deducting a price of the selected product from the monetary amount information which was read for the second time, and, following the update of the monetary amount information, the product is dispensed by the product dispensation means.
The invention in claim 2, according to the invention in claim 1, is constituted such that when the product cannot be dispensed by the product dispensation means, the authentication code of the communication medium is read from the communication medium for a second time, and, if the read out authentication code and the authentication code stored in the storage means match, the deducted monetary amount information is added to the monetary amount information on the communication medium.
Thereby, when a product cannot be dispensed due to the occurrence of a malfunction in the automatic vending machine such as a product blockage, the price of the product that could not be dispensed may be refunded to the communication medium. Further, in the invention of claim 3, according to the invention in claim 1, the communication medium comprises a non-contact IC card, and the short range communication means reads from the non-contact IC card an authentication code of the non-contact IC card and monetary amount information stored on the non-contact IC card when the non-contact IC card is within an effective distance of radio waves emitted from the short range communication means, and rewrites the monetary amount information stored on the non-contact IC card following the sale of a product. In the invention in claim 4, according to the invention in claim 3, an effective distance from radio waves emitted by the short range communication means is several centimeters.
In the invention of claim 5, according to the invention in claim 1, the communication medium comprises a portable communication terminal having infrared communication means, and wherein the short range communication means performs infrared communications with the infrared communication means of the portable communication terminal to read from the portable communication terminal an authentication code of the portable communication terminal and monetary amount information stored on the portable communication terminal, and rewrites the monetary amount information stored in the portable communication terminal following the sale of a product.
Further, the invention in claim 6 is a sales method of an automatic vending machine for selling a product by performing payment processing by means of short range communication with a communication medium which is carried by a user, comprising: a first step of reading an authentication code of the communication medium and monetary amount information stored on the communication medium from the communication medium; a second step of judging whether or not the sale of a product is possible based on the authentication code and monetary amount information read in the first step; a third step of, if the sale of a product is possible in the second step, storing the authentication code and monetary amount information and awaiting the selection of a product; a fourth step of selecting a product; a fifth step of reading the authentication code and monetary amount information of the communication medium for a second time following the selection of a product in the fourth step; a sixth step of comparing the authentication code and monetary amount information which were read for a second time in the fifth step and the stored authentication code and monetary amount information; a seventh step of, if the authentication code and monetary amount information which were read for a second time and the stored authentication code and monetary amount information match in the sixth step, updating the monetary amount information stored on the communication medium to monetary amount information obtained by deducting the price of the selected product from the monetary amount information which was read for a second time; and an eighth step of dispensing the product following the update of the monetary amount information in the seventh step.
Further, in the invention of claim 7, according to the invention in claim 6, the method further comprises: a ninth step of, if a product cannot be dispensed in the eighth step, reading the authentication code of the communication medium from the communication medium for a second time; and a tenth step of, if the authentication code read out in the ninth step and the stored authentication code match, adding the price of the product which could not be dispensed to the monetary amount information on the communication medium.
Thus, according to this invention, when a non-contact IC card is held up for the first time against an automatic vending machine which is in standby mode, the automatic vending machine simply displays the balance of the card and indicates the products available for sale without extracting any of the monetary amount information from the non-contact IC card. When the non-contact IC card is held up for a second time following the selection of a product, payment processing is performed such that the monetary amount information on the non-contact IC card is updated, and hence, no unnecessary payment deductions are made from the cards of users other than a user with a definite desire to purchase a product, as a result of which highly reliable card sales can be realized.
Moreover, when a product cannot be dispensed due to a product blockage or the like and in spite of the fact that payment has been extracted from the card, processing to refund the payment is performed by holding the card up to the automatic vending machine for a second time, whereby card sales with an even higher level of reliability can be realized.
Furthermore, the antenna section can be easily attached to a banknote identifying machine or the like, and thus an existing automatic vending machine can be made to respond easily to slight improvements. The automatic vending machine may also be used with cash, and therefore product sales can be realized with ease.